Fire and Ice Fest adds back some events due to winter weather

​Pontiac, Michigan -- The 2012 Fire & Ice Fest in downtown Rochester will add some events to this year’s scaled-back festival because of the substantial snowfall forecast by the National Weather Service. Festival goers will now be able to enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, fire pits and marshmallow roasts, and creating snowmen and snow angels, weather permitting.

Last week, the Fire & Ice Fest Committee announced the annual family fun event would go on but only with ice sculptures, fireworks, downtown shopping and dining because of unseasonably mild weather which had melted most of the snow.

The festival will take place 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Friday, February 24, and 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday, February 25. The fireworks show is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday only. The snowshoeing and cross-country skiing will take place 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Friday and noon – 3 p.m. Saturday. To view the fireworks, festival goers should gather in the Farmer's Market lot at Third and Water streets.

In addition, the City of Rochester Fire Department will hold a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to benefit the Rochester Area Youth Assistance 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. Friday at the main fire station, 277 East Second Street. Admission is $9 for adults, $4 for kids. Rochester Lions Club will host a warming tent with coffee, hot cocoa, marshmallows and S'mores kits at Third and Main streets during the festival.

Other outdoor winter activities such as dog sledding, ice skating and tubing will still be unavailable because there will not be enough time to set them up after the snow finishes falling Friday morning.

For more information on Fire & Ice, go to www.DestinationOakland.com, and enter the key words "Fire & Ice" in the search bar. Fire & Ice is a collaboration of Oakland County, Oakland County Parks, the Rochester DDA, the City of Rochester and the City of Rochester Hills.